One of San Diego's most diversely prolific (and often misunderstood) urban communities, known by most locals as an area plagued by gang violence, poverty, and homicide especially throughout the 80's and 90's, and even today.

Southeast San Diego is part of City Council District 4, and encompasses the overwhelmingly working-class, and minority professional class-inhabited neighborhoods of Mt. Hope, Mountain View, Southcrest, Shelltown, Chollas View, Ridgeview, Webster, Oak Park, Lincoln Park, Emerald Hills, Broadway Heights, Valencia Park, Alta Vista, O'Farrell Park, Skyline, North and South Encanto, North and South Bay Terrace, Jamacha, Lomita Village, and Paradise Hills.

The area is extremely diverse, with nearly 90% of the population nearly evenly split Latino, Filipino/Southeast Asian, and African-American. Southeast San Diego is served by three urban high schools, Gompers High in Chollas View, Lincoln High in Lincoln Park, and Morse High in Skyline, though due to growing dissatisfaction with the local high schools, a growing number of students from the area are sent to high schools in San Diego's more affluent suburbs "North of (Interstate) 8" i.e. University City High and Mira Mesa High.

Nevertheless, despite the struggles that most inner-city communities deal with on the daily, Southeast San Diego is currently undergoing a much-needed urban and cultural renaissance throughout its beleaguered communities.